Hypoxia is a silent killer and often pilots are unaware of their condition because lack of oxygen affects their judgment. Technicians who fly regularly or participate in pressurization system maintenance flights need to be prepared as well. To help increase awareness of the dangers of hypoxia, the military would use high-altitude pressure simulators to train pilots. Recent technological advances have introduced portable devices that simulate the high-altitude environment. Combined with software, hypoxia awareness can be taught just about anywhere.
While the National Business Aviation Association is almost always identified with issues affecting the operation of turbine-powered business aircraft, more than 1,000 of its member companies operate piston-engine light planes to support their business travel.
Whoa. Wait a minute. Stop the presses! Wasn’t unleaded automobile gasoline (so-called “pump gas”) approved for use in some engine/airframe combinations years ago, at least for the smaller piston engines, e.g., the Lycoming O-360 installed in thousands of Cessna 172s and other light planes?
A small population of large (“heavy”) transport and vintage aircraft powered by commensurately large air-cooled radial and liquid-cooled inline piston engines remains active in the U.S. and abroad that cannot be operated on any fuel other than 100/115-octane leaded aviation gasoline.
As 2014 drew to an end, a lawsuit against a group of California FBOs and fuel distributors filed three years earlier by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) over sale of leaded avgas was settled through an agreement preventing what could have resulted in grounding almost all piston-powered aviation in the state.
Airbus Corporate Jet Center, Toulouse, France, announced that Vincent Tchengang, formerly Airbus regional sales director covering airlines in Africa and the Indian Ocean, has joined the Airbus Corporate Jet Center (ACJC) as its new head of services sales. He will manage a team of sales directors dedicated to VIP services marketing worldwide, covering cabins, airframes and engines, and will be personally responsible for sales in Africa, Australia, Eastern Europe and South Asia.
Fan Jet Falcon orders now number 40 according to Pan Am Business Jets Division. First production model flew on New Year’s Day and has accumulated some 15 hr. at this time. Pan Am will receive two demonstrators plus four customer airplanes in May. FAA certification is also scheduled for May.
1. AOPA Offers Program on Forced Landing Survival Skills The AOPA has released a new video and printed guide to help pilots and passengers survive conditions following an aircraft forced landing. The program, “Survive: Beyond the Forced Landing,” covers best practices for general aviation flights that result in off-airport landings. It also reviews survival communications, preferred gear and offers advice for detection from rescuers. The video and 16-page guide cover the importance of flight plans and flight following, among other topics.
Cessna Aircraft Company is celebrating the roll out of the first production Citation Latitude at the company's Wichita, Kansas manufacturing facility, just three years since being announced to the market.
South African-based Fireblade Aviation has selected FBO One, from Amsterdam Software, as its online management tool to run its FBO and fuel management activity.
Eight Phoenix-area airports are expected to feel the impact of Super Bowl XLIX. Textron Aviation has agreed to buy the assets of the UTC Aerospace Systems facility in Wichita.
Based on a NASA study, the agency is suggesting enhancements to airline training curricula, including developing techniques that throw pilots more “surprise” curveballs.
NASA is taking no chances with flight tests of a full-scale flexible flap designed to demonstrate the potential noise and drag benefits of a seamless, morphing structure.
The recommendations—four new and four revisions of previously issued requests—come as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) prepares for a high-level safety conference in early February to address many of the same issues.
The change, which the association say is a unique requirement among all agency-issued certificates, was put in place as part of FAA’s update to its Part 145 rules for repair stations published late last year.
Visual cues are a pilot’s most-important sensory input. Since good eyesight is essential for safe operation of an aircraft, pilots must demonstrate adequate visual performance at every aeromedical exam.
Business aircraft departures in Europe last year were down 0.5% compared to 2013, according to an analysis of departures by WingX Advance. Business aircraft flying in the United States in December 2014 was up for the 13th month in a row, according to TraqPak data released by Argus International.
Bombardier Aerospace’s decision to pause its Learjet 85 program should not be seen as a sign of weaker demand for Cessna’s or Embraer’s competing products, analysts say.
Bombardier announced Jan. 15 that it is pausing its long-delayed Learjet 85 jet program because of weak market demand for the aircraft and a downward revision in the company’s market forecast.
I recently sat in a room full of aviation professionals and, unbelievably, heard the comment that “the so-called oxygen bottle is really compressed air, just like scuba divers use.” While I sat there with my mouth open, more than a few in the room nodded agreement. They may not be the only folks thinking this to be true.
